NC State Alumnus Becomes National Sports Turf Managers Association President

Jimmy Simpson, CSFM, facilities coordinator, Town of Cary, NC was installed as the new national STMA President in January 2020. In his opening speech he talked about making an impact—an impact on the athletes that play on the fields; an impact on sports fans that attend sporting events; an impact on staff, colleagues, and fellow sports field managers.

At the time, Mr. Simpson had no idea that he would be making an impact on COVID-19 recovery. In just his second month as president, he formed a COVID-19 Task Force with the goal of helping other sports turf managers across the world respond to challenges from the pandemic. Under Mr. Simpson’s leadership, this task force has been busy with developing and delivering timely information to an association of nearly 3,000 sports turf managers across the US and many international affiliates in addition to its 34 state chapters representing over 6,000 sports turf industry professionals.

Mr. Simpson has made one of the foundation pillars of his career about giving back to the industry. Mr. Simpson is a past treasure for the Turfgrass Council of North Carolina, past president of the North Carolina Chapter of the STMA, and has served the national STMA as director at-large, secretary treasurer, and president elect prior to his new role as president. He has been a member of STMA since 2001, and was one of the first 100 people to earn the Certified Sports Field Managers (CSFM) designation. Mr. Simpson regularly talks to NC State turfgrass classes, hired many of NC State students and former students in positions on his staff, and has supported a number of research projects on his athletic fields. Mr. Simpson was previously honored as a 2014 Outstanding Young Alumni.

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